FlyBe baggage fees...grrrr

I'm heading over to Europe for a biz trip, also will catch up with family. Whilst I'm over I'm going to see a friend who's recently had cancer in Jersey.....the difference in baggage fee's with FlyBe is mindblowin! 13.99 GBP for 20kgs (1 piece) or 30.99 GBP for 23kgs...really, 17 quid for an extra 3 kilos?! To make matters more confusing, it says you can't pay for a 23kgs bag at the airport? What?

Thing is, I live in the US, so always bring gifts for my niece and nephew. How on earth am I going to know how much my bag weighs prior to seeing them....my only aim is to get 20kgs and thus I'll know it'll be lighter than that prior to flying with FlyBe. I know this is a bit ranty but even US baggage fees aren't this stupid!

Welcome to the world of European low cost airlines where the base fare will be miniscule but the 'extras' soon mount up! = want to check in with a person? that will be £££, need your BP printing - please hand over some more £££. Priority boarding sir? that will be £££. More than one item of handbaggage madam? then let us lighten the load by charging some more for it.

But never mind that you will tell your friends your flight 'only' cost £1!

I (and I know other v-flyers have too) invested in one of these luggage scales (well something similar)

Incredible really. Don't remember it being that bad when I lived in Brizzle, but then, I only travelled super light when using flybe. Thanks for the tip on the scales.

[Darren Wheeler]

How much did you pay for the actual ticket?

$184.90 on the nose. SOU-JER JER-LGW

Yes grrr but this is the same the world over, why is it relevant to VS?

This isn't just a low cost airline issue. So called 'full service' airlines like AA, United etc all charge bag fees and are meticulous in my experience when it comes to weight.

Interesting, especially since FlyBE have just relaunched their offering.

Yes grrr but this is the same the world over, why is it relevant to VS?

This is the Baggage Hall, for all Non-Virgin travel topics.

Yes grrr but this is the same the world over, why is it relevant to VS?

Except it isn't quite the same the world over, even United don't make such a remarkable difference about 3kgs....and this is the non-virgin forum fyi.

This isn't just a low cost airline issue. So called 'full service' airlines like AA, United etc all charge bag fees and are meticulous in my experience when it comes to weight.

I know they're all crazy about bags and weight, however, they're not quite so obvious about charging so much more for just 3 kgs, I've had 'overweight' bags on United/Delta/AA/Frontier all without an issue. What I find especially odd is the supposed inability to pay at the airport should you turn up with a 23kgs bag.

Don't FlyBE discount their basic luggage allowance so any differece looks bigger?